A lot to learn from “One Night Stand”

While people will go back and forth on what Christian drama is, One Night Stand, is a model for love gone sour. The play centres on the life of Sebastian (Moses Isingoma), 40, a ship captain, who neglects his wife. Rhoda (Barbara Nansikombi), in her late 30's. She cannot do without marital intimacy, and because her husband is married to his job and away all the time, she gives in to temptation. Her alleged 'one night stand' with Sebastian's younger brother and lawyer, Kombozi (Albert Mubiru) is what drives the play.

The great Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C) once stressed that drama is the imitation of life, that mankind learns through imitation, that learning something is the greatest pleasure of life, and that all human happiness or misery takes the form of action. It seems the playwright, Mr Kenneth Kimuli, who also plays Sebastian's porter, had Aristotle's words in mind when he penned One Night Stand. The viewer feels the tension, knowing that Rhoda, who has previously experienced constant miscarriages, is pregnant with another man's child.

Will Eseza (Florence Kabugo), a close neighbor and friend to Rhoda with whom they share top secrets drop the bomb?

Other characters include Kabogoza, who trades gossip, Obote (Abel Kabugo), plays the villain while Kateeba (Jeff), Sebastian's wormate is the peacemaker. The team helps to develop the plot with scintillating action until the very climax.

"On the whole, the play spells out the trials and tribulations women face in marriages," says Kimuli. "It is not just to be seen, but to be experienced as well."
Performed by Kampala Pentecostal Church (KPC) drama team, One Night Stand will be showing at the national theatre starting this Thursday, at 2p.m. Entrance fee is Shs3,000 and Shs6,000 for students and adults respectively.
There will also be a VIP show on September 17, for Shs10,000.

The play is directed by Ms Florence Kabugo.

Published in Daily Monitor, September 8, 2006